Nicklas Lidstrom retires

Nicklas Lidstrom, the best defenseman of his era and one of the greatest of all time, will announce his retirement, an NHL source indicated to Yahoo! Sports. The Detroit Red Wings have called a press conference for 11 a.m. Thursday.

"I think Nick should announce his decision," said the Wings' Ken Holland after the NHL general managers' meeting Wednesday in New York. "He's earned that right."

Lidstrom has won the Norris Trophy seven times, one short of the record held by Bobby Orr. He won the Norris in 2010-11, decided to come back and played at a high level this season.

Was a little surprised thought maybe the pull of the Winter Classic and one last go of it would entice him back out for one more year. Where does he go down in greatest D-men lists?

Nashville is going to be peeing ice cubes for the next 5 weeks now. Betcha Detroit makes a huge move for Suter...

And I wager that is WHY he is retiring.

Those Detroit guys love their team. Stevie, Oz, D-Mac, etc......

Funny, that city is a hell hole, but the Joe, a dump of an arena the owner took care to dress up as much as possible, shows what an owner who CARES can do. The guy, and his teammates from far back, really care about the org that cared about them.

Funny, that city is a hell hole, but the Joe, a dump of an arena the owner took care to dress up as much as possible, shows what an owner who CARES can do. The guy, and his teammates from far back, really care about the org that cared about them.

I agree, but I can't help but feel a slow-moving culture change having a chance on the Island - we can thank Tavares for how it seems his will to lead a team to the top is the only non-altruistic bone in his body. Now we just have to hope it takes hold throughout the roster and bridges into the front office.

Our woes aside, props to Lidstrom for a stellar career. I won't miss seeing him lined up against us (like it's mattered much for the last few years...lol) but I can't name many defensemen I've seen in my time with such acumen. Having missed Potvin (I was born between Cups 1 & 2), I can only think of Niedermayer and Stevens.

I agree, but I can't help but feel a slow-moving culture change having a chance on the Island - we can thank Tavares for how it seems his will to lead a team to the top is the only non-altruistic bone in his body. Now we just have to hope it takes hold throughout the roster and bridges into the front office.

Our woes aside, props to Lidstrom for a stellar career. I won't miss seeing him lined up against us (like it's mattered much for the last few years...lol) but I can't name many defensemen I've seen in my time with such acumen. Having missed Potvin (I was born between Cups 1 & 2), I can only think of Niedermayer and Stevens.

The only more positionally sound defenseman in this era than KJ was Lids - and he brought offense. Lots of it.

Looking at your first point, Yzerman was the guy (Tavares) and the club was mired in the "Dead Wings" era. Ilitch bought the club and ran it and saw attendance numbers like 3,000 sold (in an 18,000 arena) and swore he'd never be a Mottau/Rolston signer. He nabbed our gem (Jimmy Devellano) and sought TOP GUYS (guys with six years in business studies, not just four) and demanded the Wings scouted, drafted, retained and rewarded the best guys they could. They went heavy Russian (us older guys remember the KLM line coming to N.A.) and Swedish and got well mixed pools of talent and their scouting was top notch.

So Stevy Y had it in him but he'd be Dino or Dionne in a permanent wasteland without the owner ensuring his team would be winning.

So Tavares better work on his Jedi nuances and get Wang to give a ****.

But if we DID have the ownership.......I like the comparison. I hope we can luck out and find a gem like Lids. I'd hope the culture on LI has us (and we have VERY loyal guys) in some realm of where Detroit has been for almost two and a half decades.

The guy was a stud from day one, won the rookie of the year in 1991. Then 7 Norris Trophies ! SEVEN ! The last one at age 39. Just an incredible career, definitely one of the top 5 D-men ever. So solid, didn't kill you with hits, just always in the right spot all the time, positionally. Just amazing, a career 450 plus rating in the plus/minus. And a classy guy to boot. We can only hope we ever wind up with a Nicklas Lidstrom.

The guy was a stud from day one, won the rookie of the year in 1991. Then 7 Norris Trophies ! SEVEN ! The last one at age 39. Just an incredible career, definitely one of the top 5 D-men ever. So solid, didn't kill you with hits, just always in the right spot all the time, positionally. Just amazing, a career 450 plus rating in the plus/minus. And a classy guy to boot. We can only hope we ever wind up with a Nicklas Lidstrom.

Well put.

A real pleasure watching him throughout his entire career. Looking forward to watching #5 go to the rafters next season.

I have no real information to back this up with, but I heard rumour that Lidstrom wanted to retire the year before, but with Rafalski retiring, he didn't want to leave the Wings without their #1 and #2. Timing for Suter might just be coincidence.

So, because I've seen this argued a bunch in other places today, where does Lids rank in the all time greats?

Clearly most folks agree that Orr is #1, but how do the rest shake out? Where is Lids relative to our boy Potvin? Where do you put Robinson? Bourque? Some feel Coffey should be up there. Others like Stevens. Then there are the pre-expansion era guys (Shore, Harvey usually are mentioned).

Personally, I'd have Lidstrom after Orr, Potvin and Robinson and ahead of Bourque in the top 5.

Personally, I'd have Lidstrom after Orr, Potvin and Robinson and ahead of Bourque in the top 5.

Other thoughts?

I'm a HUGE Isle's fan, and even bigger Potvin fan, but I can't put him higher than Lidstrom. C'mon, SEVEN Norris Tropies, 7 ! I think he has 3 or 4 Cups. I'd rank them as follows

Orr
Bourque
Lidstrom
Potvin
Stevens
Robinson
Coffey

And then you have to decide where the old timers fit. But those top 5 belong in the top 10.

Potvin was ferocious and probably a better offensive defenseman than Lidstrom, but Lidstrom was like a robot, almost never made a mistake defensively, yet still scored over 1000 points. Plus 7 Norris Trophies are second all time to Orr. Amazing. Love Potvin, but Lidstrom was better (IMHO).

The only more positionally sound defenseman in this era than KJ was Lids - and he brought offense. Lots of it.

Looking at your first point, Yzerman was the guy (Tavares) and the club was mired in the "Dead Wings" era. Ilitch bought the club and ran it and saw attendance numbers like 3,000 sold (in an 18,000 arena) and swore he'd never be a Mottau/Rolston signer. He nabbed our gem (Jimmy Devellano) and sought TOP GUYS (guys with six years in business studies, not just four) and demanded the Wings scouted, drafted, retained and rewarded the best guys they could. They went heavy Russian (us older guys remember the KLM line coming to N.A.) and Swedish and got well mixed pools of talent and their scouting was top notch.

So Stevy Y had it in him but he'd be Dino or Dionne in a permanent wasteland without the owner ensuring his team would be winning.

So Tavares better work on his Jedi nuances and get Wang to give a ****.

But if we DID have the ownership.......I like the comparison. I hope we can luck out and find a gem like Lids. I'd hope the culture on LI has us (and we have VERY loyal guys) in some realm of where Detroit has been for almost two and a half decades.

Hear, hear. In a perfect world, upon moving abroad this fall, I'll become a DJ/producer as prolific as Fatboy Slim, whereupon I'll form an ownership group, buy the team, find a new GM, make Snow an assistant GM, hire Haviland from Chicago and ride the big, blue & orange party train to Valhalla and shoot for the fifth stripe.

It's fun to dream.

Dreams aside, here's hoping Snow offers Justin Schultz the $5.4M most competing teams can't, make the #4 pick and some prospects available for the right package and start the process yesterday.

I'm a HUGE Isle's fan, and even bigger Potvin fan, but I can't put him higher than Lidstrom. C'mon, SEVEN Norris Tropies, 7 ! I think he has 3 or 4 Cups. I'd rank them as follows

Orr
Bourque
Lidstrom
Potvin
Stevens
Robinson
Coffey

And then you have to decide where the old timers fit. But those top 5 belong in the top 10.

Potvin was ferocious and probably a better offensive defenseman than Lidstrom, but Lidstrom was like a robot, almost never made a mistake defensively, yet still scored over 1000 points. Plus 7 Norris Trophies are second all time to Orr. Amazing. Love Potvin, but Lidstrom was better (IMHO).

That is a good way to summarize his style. When #5 had the puck, it was almost a comforting feeling for Detroit fans.

The Potvin vs Lidstrom debate is definitely a tough one. As you mentioned, two radically different styles that were both extremely effective. I always admired to Lidstrom's ability to calm an attack and effortlessly transition his team. However, Potvin's sheer nastiness and wreckingball play made him an anchor on our blueline.